Asus Crosshair III Formula Review

Introduction:

When it comes to overclocking, one requires only the best components, including processors, memory and, of course, motherboards. With motherboards, there are so many chipsets to choose from that a lot of trial and error comes into play when picking the correct one for you. As an enthusiast, I push the limits of my hardware to squeeze every bit of juice out of them that I can. When it comes to AMD processors, such as the Phenom II X4 955, I found the AMD 790FX/SB750 chipset to be the most stable for achieving high overclocks. One manufacturer has taken a proven enthusiast platform and designed a board around the 790FX/SB750 chipset for those yearning high benchmarks, such as our readers at OCC.

ASUS has had a sub-brand called the Republic of Gamers for some time now and designs its products to be the finest products available to gamers, according to ASUS. Its line includes both motherboard and video cards that are built to be the best. One of the series aimed at AMD users from ASUS is the ROG Crosshair series, which traditionally were built using nVidia chipsets. However, for the third board in the series, ASUS opted for the 790FX chispet with its proven stability and speed. The Crosshair III Formula also adds special features that set it apart from other 790FX based boards, which we will see inside.

Closer Look:

The ASUS Crosshair III Formula comes packaged in a pleasantly looking box, with the logo on the front showing it's a Republic of Gamers product. On the back are pictures of the board and audio card, as well as the specifications for the Crosshair III. What is unique about this packaging is there is a front flap that opens up on the box, revealing the inside with a view of the motherboard in all its glory. On the upper part of the flap there is more detail on some of the unique features that the ASUS Crosshair III offers that many other boards do not. These features are what sets this board apart from the competition.

When you open the packaging there are two inner boxes that slide out. The top inner box is what keeps the board very secure and protected so that it is not damaged when being moved around. It also gives a nice view to the board before taking it out of the packaging. The second box, or bottom one, is the accessories box, which houses and stores all the accessories for you. This is great for keeping what you are not using at the time safe for later. There is a wealth of accessories included that we will go into more later in the review.